Pokemon, which is short for "pocket monster," is a globally successful video game from Japan.
Created by Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo published it in 1996.
This role-playing game for the Nintendo Game Boy has spawned card games, TV cartoons and even a musical.
The cartoons for the TV were so successful that movies based upon the Pokemon characters were filmed.
Almost every child in America is familiar with this fad and owns some form of Pokemon paraphernalia.
But, what is Pokemon?
The Pokemon are supposed to be "monsters" that have special powers and coinhabit the world with humans.
The core of the game consisted of children playing as a corageous eleven year boy, who travels the region known as Kanto, collecting as many Pokemon as possible, training them, and using them to do battle.
Pokemon can evolve and pass through various levels, 100 being the highest.
The highest challenge in the game consisted of beating the Elite Four and collecting all 151 original Pokemon.